Techno Horror
"Their city was surrounded with no way out, then it came from their gates. Screeching like some wounded beast and spewing smoke from its top. The iron box rolled out of their gates spewing fire and death. Arrows and spears were turned and no barricade could stop it. It finally died when the centurion got on top of it and poured burning oil down the smoking hole at the top. He did not survive as it exploded in a shower of hot metal and destruction." ''(Tallet War Journal) Techno Horror ''"It is a foul thing, this thing. The power to take so many lives should not be at the fingers of just anyone who can hold this device in their hands. With the flip of a switch this spear would fly through the air and every life in the village would be extinguished. Only a twisted mind would think to create such an artifact" ''(Knight of the Badger, shortly before breaking the activation switch of tech horror designation 'Death's lance') A' Techno Horror''' is a weapon created through the power of ingenuity and industry of the physical sciences capable of wreaking massive amounts of death and destruction in a short amount of time. Such weapons on the surface of Primus Firma have been long outlawed by the Barrensoil Compact and use of such weapons can cause the immediate intervention of foreign powers bent on either the destruction or theft of such a weapon. Techno horrors take many forms. Sometimes they are a steel box that crawls on the ground spitting death, they can be a steel spear that explodes into a cloud of plague and pestilence, they can be a man sized box that roars and tears apart an army of men from a distance, they can be a series of glass lenses that light cities ablaze. Regardless, once classified as a tech horror, a weapon is the subject of hatred and fear from most, and is often hunted down and destroyed. Preservation of secrets "We cannot risk these devices falling into enemy hands, all information and materials must be transported in a way that they can be immediately destroyed upon capture" ''(Technocracy agent) The Technocracy considers the preservation of schematics and finished weaponry to be '''forbidden knowledge' and is thus protected at all costs. Plans are encoded and dismantled, often transported separately. Schematic tubes ''"We successfully ambushed the technocracy agents and relieved them of their cargo, but by the time we had brought it back and opened the box, all we found was a pile of foul smelling sludge and broken glass. Needless to say, we did not get our reward" ''(Mercenary journal) All Schematics for techno horrors are transported in specialized containers designed for the swift destruction of written plans. The plans are written on frail, easily dissolved paper and stored in fragile glass containers suspended inside of a box filled with vinegar or other caustic liquid. Should the security of the transportation ever be threatened, the technocracy agent need only to jostle or drop the box and the plans will be destroyed. Even should plans be captured, they are often incomplete. Due to the fragile nature of plans in transit, they must be carried constantly often attached to the agent transporting them. Self destruct mechanism ''"We finally got it, the technocracy ship that could travel under the waves. Admiral Gaius Aurelius outwitted the enemy captain into beaching itself onto a coral reef. It was only a matter of waiting out the bastards inside until they starved. We waited for three months before finally the hatch at the top opened. An emaciated form wearing the technocracy colors staggered out and gave us a very rude gesture before the water around their ship exploded into white foam and waves that nearly capsized our ships. By the time the waters had settled, there was nothing left but bodies and scraps of metal" ''(Tallet Sailors Journal) Any completed techno horror regardless of size or power are created with a mechanism to completely destroy the vital parts of the device so that it cannot be reverse engineered by rival factions. While practical this gives any tech horror a vital weakness that those familiar with their existence can exploit. The High cost of victory ''"Years of development, decades of work, centuries of resource preparation and for what? A few screams and a whole lot of nothing at the end. That is the futility of our work. The only solace is that with every time one of our contraptions makes it to the field, the world remembers it forever and thinks twice before attacking us. Just in case we have another one, which of course, we don't" ''(Chief Engineer: Crafter the Vision) Tech horrors in order to function properly often have to be built to exact specifications using rare and highly costly materials that can only be created in specialized labs and factories around Technocracy territory. Fortress Laboratories The Final Vault Secret war of the Citadel ''"They are trying again. We thought their best minds were either killed or recruited by us, but clearly some have been either too stubborn or well guarded. This is a problem, we must intervene. Should the Technocracy war minds realize their dream, the misery they would unleash onto the world would be incalculable." ''(Citadel retrieval team) Recorded Tech horrors ''"We keep a record of such events of course, for future battles to come, and for '' The Banning of advanced weaponry ''"I witnessed the results of a Technocracy experiment. Upon seeing the detonation of their device, a clever thing that filled an entire castle with explosive gas before igniting and turning the entire fortification into a furnace. As I watched a chill ran down my spine. The technomancers cheered and poured chilled champagne in celebration. I had a vision then. I had a vision of such a device that could turn entire cities into scorched hellscapes, of a mighty flash that lit up the sky and millions of men women and children burning and screaming. I had a vision of their charred remains blasted away like dried leaves, and all this power and death in a single flick of a switch. More importantly, I saw madmen and tyrants doing everything in their power to acquire these devices and hold the world hostage. I am not proud of what I did that day. All those involved with the creation of that device died by my hand, and the world is better for it." ''(Alledged journal entry by the 14th consul)